Money

By Chris Isidore, CNN New York (CNN) — Allstate Insurance says it will pay out $1.1 billion in claims caused by the wildfires that swept through Southern California in January. While the expected payout is significant, Allstate said Wednesday it was able to limit its losses partly by pulling back from the California market. Many

CNN By Daniel Wine, CNN Editor’s Note: CNN’s 5 Things newsletter is your one-stop shop for the latest headlines and fascinating stories to start and end your busy day. Sign up here. 👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! Ocean currents. Chemical reactions. Blood flow. Storm clouds. These are all examples of turbulence, and scientists believe they’ve

By Alicia Wallace, CNN (CNN) — If the pundits proved right, the US labor market was supposed to have broken down by now. It wasn’t supposed to survive the Federal Reserve’s historic and aggressive rate-hiking campaign to reel in high inflation. Instead, the job market — much like the broader US economy — has remained

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — Quiksilver, Billabong and Volcom, once a magnet for Millennials looking for surfer and skateboard-inspired clothing, are permanently closing all of their stores. More than 100 locations across the United States are shutting down in the coming weeks after their operator, Liberated Brands, filed for bankruptcy, blaming fast-fashion

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — In an effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the Trump administration is prodding government employees to shift to the private sector for the next stage of their careers. But it may not be that simple. Eligible federal workers initially had until Thursday to accept the administration’s

By Chris Isidore, CNN New York (CNN) — These should be tough days for Tesla. Sales are down. It’s making less money on every car it does manage to sell. Competitors are eating into its market share, especially internationally. The end of various federal EV policies could cost the company billions. And then there’s the

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — Kermit the Frog. Coffee puns like “thanks a latte” and “a matcha made in heaven.” Drawings of dogs, cats, birds and bees. Starbucks baristas are scribbling on customers’ to-go coffee cups again, part of new CEO Brian Niccol’s “Back to Starbucks” strategy to humanize the global chain

By John Liu and Hassan Tayir, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — Travel and spending during China’s Lunar New Year holiday hit new records this year, giving the government an encouraging boost as it seeks to ramp up the ailing economy. A total of 501 million trips were made within China during the eight-day travel season,

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN (CNN) — Elon Musk, head of the chaos-causing Department of Government Efficiency, made an assertion this week that raised questions in some people’s minds about the status of the IRS Direct File program. That program enables tax filers in 25 states, if they choose, to file their taxes for free on

By Brian Stelter, CNN (CNN) — A newly released transcript of a contested interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris refutes President Donald Trump’s assertions that CBS committed “election interference” last October. The Harris interview led Trump to sue CBS, and a pro-Trump advocacy group filed a formal complaint with the FCC, the federal agency

By Liam Reilly, CNN (CNN) — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, responding Wednesday to a question about a right-wing conspiracy theory, announced that the federal government would cancel $8 million worth of Politico subscriptions. Leavitt elevated a bogus claim spreading on social media that Politico and the Associated Press for years received millions of

CNN By Tami Luhby, Alayna Treene and Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge paused Thursday’s deadline for federal employees to accept the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer while more proceedings on the program’s legality play out. The administration sent an email to employees just after 5 p.m. ET informing them of the court-ordered

By Clare Duffy and Hadas Gold, CNN New York (CNN) — As Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency associates barrel through the federal government, former Twitter (now X) employees have seen this all before. Musk appears to be bringing his Twitter takeover playbook to the public sector, and, as they did at the

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — People don’t buy “domestic” cars or salute the “domestic” flag, so they shouldn’t drink “domestic” beer. At least, that’s what Anheuser-Busch’s CEO thinks. Brendan Whitworth, the beermaker’s chief executive, says he wants to change the term that describes his US-made beers, which includes Budweiser, Michelob Ultra and

By Liam Reilly, CNN (CNN) — As President Trump and Elon Musk remake the federal government through firings, orders and brute force, small news publishers that specialize in the federal workforce are landing big scoops and seeing equally big traffic gains. The Federal News Network — which markets itself as a nonpartisan destination for federal

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger are caught in the middle of a budding US-China trade war. China’s Ministry of Finance placed PVH, the parent company of the two American clothing brands, on its “unreliable entities list,” essentially a blacklist of companies. It was part of a broad

By Olesya Dmitracova, CNN London (CNN) — Nissan is still holding “various discussions” with Honda, the carmaker said Wednesday in response to media reports that it is set to scrap merger talks with its larger rival. The two Japanese companies announced in December that they would conduct negotiations over the following six months on a

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — Americans love Shein, Temu and AliExpress for two reasons: low prices and fast shipping. Trump’s tariffs could change that. His tariff orders reversed a long-standing shipping loophole: the de minimis exemption. The rule allowed international exporters to ship packages worth less than $800 inspection- and duty-free into

By Eric Cheung and Ramishah Maruf, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — The US Postal Service on Wednesday morning announced it will continue accepting incoming international parcels from China and Hong Kong — after saying late Tuesday night that it would suspend them. Although no reason was given for the initial suspension of package deliveries from